Diameter is an IETF protocol that has been specifically designed for the Internet infrastructure. Diameter unifies authentication, authorization and accounting (AAA) transactions.
The accounting related extension (AAA) of the base Diameter protocol is likely to be used in networks which are all-IP (Internet Protocol) based for charging purposes.
Furthermore, in all-IP based networks, it will be essential to provide a mechanism for transferring sponsorship information to a centralized charging function. In this context, sponsorship refers to the ‘underwriting’ by a third party of part or all of the costs of a communication session established by a user of a communication system. Thus, when a user makes a call, a third party may agree to pay for (i.e. sponsor) a certain part of the costs associated with that call.
The principle of shared charging is discussed in United Kingdom patent application number 0031459.1.
However, no provision for accommodating sponsorship in charging mechanisms has yet been provided for in relation to implementations of all-IP networks.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved technique for accommodating charging in IP networks, which addresses the above-stated problems.